Iceland to help develop geothermal energy in Ethiopia

The Icelandic International Development Agency (ICEIDA) has signed a Partnership Agreement with the Government of Ethiopia for geothermal surface exploration and capacity building for the development of geothermal energy in Ethiopia.

The cooperation with Ethiopia is initiated under the Iceland—World Bank agreement on geothermal energy ,with the implementing agencies in Ethiopia being the Geological Survey of Ethiopia (GSE) and the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO). In addition, various aspects of the outputs under this project have direct and indirect linkages with World Bank supported activities. This project is the second project to be initiated under the ICEIDA/NDF Geothermal Exploration Project, with the first one already under way in Rwanda.

Geothermal energy in Ethiopia is considered to be abundant (up to 5000 MW) and it is the only base load renewable energy resource in the country. Despite this, limited geothermal development has taken place up until now, however it has now been prioritised by the Government of Ethiopia as a key area in their energy development.

The Ethiopian government is currently implementing a strategy to develop its renewable energy resources in order to strengthen energy security in the country and ensure sustainable supply. The overall objective of the cooperation with Iceland is to assist the Government of Ethiopia with this strategy in regards to geothermal energy. The immediate objective of the project is to identify potential sites for exploration, drilling in the target areas, and to develop capacity in Ethiopia to advance geothermal energy production in the country. The focus of this project will thus both address the needs for GSE and EEPCO to build capacity to handle further growth and development in geothermal energy production, as well as assist with finalising geothermal surface explorations in order to identify locations for drilling and production wells in target sites.

The geothermal surface exploration activities will focus on the areas of Tendaho Alalobeda and Aluto Langano, both considered to have great potential for energy production and the he capacity building project for geothermal exploration will be initiated in the area of Gedemsa. This latter part of the project will further focus on geothermal drilling as well as the operations and maintenance of geothermal power plants.